Lions Strike From Distance Often, Showcase Adaptability Against NW
Penn State coach Patrick Chambers took the individual questions about individual players one after another, providing insight as the inquiries came.
First, there was one about Myles Dread. Then came Jamari Wheeler. Later, Seth Lundy.
Each player had his own hook, his own storyline to offer amid Saturday’s 77-61 Penn State win.
Dread dropped 16 points as a slump continues to trend toward a resurgence. Wheeler scored in double figures while preventing explosive Northwestern guard Boo Buie from popping off like his half brother, Talor Battle, used to at the Bryce Jordan Center not long ago. Lundy hit a speedbump with just four points, a learning experience amid a freshman outbreak.
Collectively, though, that trio and the rest of Penn State’s guards give the Nittany Lions offensive adaptability when you pair them with Lamar Stevens’ scoring prowess — a luxury they haven’t had in recent memory.
“I think what’s really made them a good team this year is those guys have the ability to make shots off of [Stevens],” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “What Lundy’s done, what Dread’s done. Obviously Curtis Jones, he’s shot the ball incredibly well, and that makes it really hard, because then you have guys like [Mike] Watkins and [John] Harrar who can finish on those rolls, then now you’ve got to really pick your poison.”
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Collins and his Wildcats made the decision Saturday that they were going to try to defend their paint well, and, for the most part, they succeeded.
Northwestern outscored the Nittany Lions 34-28 in the painted area. But it didn’t matter, because Penn State unleashed yet another barrage from deep.
With the paint clogged up, Penn State simply adjusted. The Nittany Lions took 31 3-point shots, tying a season high. They made 11 of them. Northwestern made two of its 14 attempts.
The Nittany Lions didn’t shoot the lights out like they did against Purdue on Tuesday, but they didn’t need to make more than half their threes to put their opponent in an uncomfortable position.
“There’s decisions you have to make in gameplanning. The reality is very few guys in college basketball can guard Lamar Stevens one-on-one. He requires extra attention,” Collins said. “...When you get in a situation when you have to play a guy with two guys or a man and a half, you’re going to be in rotation.
“We knew they had a physicality advantage on us,” Collins continued. “We knew they were bigger and stronger. We wanted to try to do as good a job as we could protecting our paint, which was going to lead to some threes. You just hope it’s not like what they did against Purdue, where they make 16 or whatever they did because then nobody’s going to beat them. It’s kind of a pick your poison type of deal today.”
The Wildcats couldn’t limit Stevens, either. He picked up 23 points — well above his season average, while also opening up shots for his teammates by attracting so much attention.
With Northwestern looking dangerous and down just seven points in the second half after Penn State had led by as many as 18, Stevens gave the ball up to Dread, who confidently nailed third of four triples on the game.
Even without Myreon Jones, who missed his third straight game due to an illness, the Nittany Lions can find a big bucket from almost anyone on the court.
“Lamar Stevens, you know he wants to shoot that to stop the run,” Chambers said. “But to give it up to Myles Dread, to me, was a huge play in the game.”
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